This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

The miners got stuck in the elevator around 10 p.m. Wednesday, and were never in danger, a company spokesman said.

The fourth group of workers emerge from an elevator Thursday after they were stuck overnight in a shaft at the Cayuga Salt Mine in Lansing, N.Y. (Simon Wheeler / The Associated Press)

By The Associated Press

Thu., Jan. 7, 2016

LANSING, N.Y.—All 17 miners who were stuck hundreds of feet below the surface in an elevator at the deepest salt mine in the Western Hemisphere have been rescued.

Cargill Inc. spokesman Mark Klein says the last two miners were raised to the surface by a crane around 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the mine in the central New York town of Lansing.

Their rescue ended an ordeal that lasted about 10 hours. Klein says the miners were never in danger.

Klein says the miners got stuck 900 feet underground around 10 p.m. Wednesday while descending to the floor of the 2,300-foot-deep mine to start their shift. Emergency workers were able to communicate via radio with the miners, who had blankets, heat packs and other supplies lowered to them.

Article Continued Below

The mine, which Klein said is the deepest salt mine in the Western Hemisphere, produces road salt that is shipped throughout the northeastern United States. It is located on the shore of Cayuga Lake and extends beneath its waters.

Mining at the Lansing site began 100 years ago. Cargill bought the mine in 1970 and today employs 200 workers at the operation, Klein said.

The company conducts evacuation drills annually, Klein said.

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com